Category: Personal Development

My father was a Lutheran pastor. He didn’t have career goals like the ones we commonly write about. But early on in his career, he decided that he would become a great preacher. That led to a regular Sunday ritual during the years I was growing up. Every Sunday after the last service, we had a family dinner. At every » Read More

You’ve heard the advice to build on your strengths. Great performance and careers are made that way. But what about weaknesses? I’ll go with Peter Drucker’s advice: most of the time you should make them irrelevant. Make weaknesses irrelevant by learning to do them “well enough.” Make them » Read More

“My best friend and I are arguing about strengths. I say that building on strength is the way to success. He says if you don’t fix your weaknesses, you’ll never get where you want to go. Who’s right?” Justin’s email summarized an argument I’ve been hearing since I first read the advice to “build on » Read More

There’s an old joke that says the way to Carnegie Hall is “Practice, practice, practice.” That’s still true if you’re a boss, but the practice is different. Practice mentally. Rehearse things in your mind. Imagine difficulties that you’ll encounter and how you’ll deal with » Read More

Your company probably has training programs. They may have a mentoring program or provide help with your leadership development. Wring every bit of value you can out of those programs, but do more. Follow up on the resources you hear about during training. Set up your own plan for development and improvement. Seek out » Read More